Alcatel-Lucent to supply gear for Africa Coast to Europe cable

JUNE 9, 2010 -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it has signed a turnkey contract valued at over $500 million with Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), a newly formed consortium composed of 20 operators that aims to build the ACE submarine network. The network will link Cape Town in South Africa to Penmarch in France

This new submarine network system, with built-in 40-Gbps capability, will span over 17,000 km and will deliver broadband communications to and from the African continent and Europe. The signing of the consortium agreement was announced June 8 (see "Construction agreement signed for the Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable").

Upon expected commercial service in the first half of 2012, this network will bring broadband optical data connectivity for the first time to the people of Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea.

With an ultimate design capacity of 5.12 Tbps, ACE will have 40-Gbps data rate capabilities, leveraging coherent technology.

ACE's coastal route will link South Africa to France via Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Tenerife (Spain), and Portugal. The network will have 21 landing points along this route.

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its submarine line terminal (1620 Light Manager) working at up to 40 Gbps using phase shift keying (PSK)-based modulation formats with coherent detection (likely the polarization-multiplexed BPSK technology Alcatel-Lucent announced today). Alcatel-Lucent will also supply its branching units and will implement its 1678 Metro Core Connect in the landing points that will be located along the route in Swakopmund (Namibia), Luanda (Angola), Muanda (Democratic Republic of Congo), Libreville (Gabon), Bata (Equatorial Guinea), Santana (Sao Tome), Kribi (Cameroon), Lagos (Nigeria), Cotonou (Benin), Accra (Ghana), Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Monrovia (Liberia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Conakry (Guinea), Banjul (The Gambia), Dakar (Senegal), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Tenerife, and Lisbon.

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